Abstract
Summary
Nineteen rats were rendered severely cirrhotic by the bi-weekly administration of carbon tetrachloride over a period of 2 months. Three months after discontinuance of the CCl4 injections the hepatic cells in the livers of these rats appeared histologically normal and very little fibrosis was present. At this time the mean vitamin A concentration in the livers was found to be 12.5± 8.6 international units per gram of fresh tissue. The livers of 6 control rats receiving the same amount of food and of vitamin A as the CCl4 treated rats had a mean vitamin A concentration of 26.9± 9 I. U./g. The difference between these values was found to have statistical significance.
No correlation was observed between the vitamin A concentration in the cirrhotic livers and (1) the liver weight, or (2) the degree of fibrosis, or (3) the brewers'yeast intake of the animals.
It is concluded that the livers of rats recovering from CCl4 cirrhosis contain much less vitamin A than do the livers of normal rats on the same diet.
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